Slight Dip at the Pump in the Susquehanna Valley

Gas prices in the Susquehanna Valley are down by a penny this week to $2.883 per gallon this week, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

Gas prices are 1-4 cents cheaper across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region. Despite the drops, motorists in the region are seeing very expensive prices at the pump; most states have gas averages between $2.34 (Virginia) and $2.81 (Pennsylvania).

Compared to gas prices this week last year, Pennsylvania (+29 cents) lands amongst the top 10 states with the largest year-over-year changes, but still follows the national trend.

Regional inventories dropped to the 65 million barrel mark on the week. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), inventory fell by 748,000 barrels. Inventories are 10.2 million barrels below totals compared to this week last year.

This week’s average prices: Susquehanna Valley Average: $2.883Average price during the week of February 20, 2018: $2.897Average price during the week of February 27, 2017: $2.526

On the National Front
At $2.52, the national gas price average is the cheapest pump price seen this month. The national gas price average for the month of February is $2.56, which is 29-cents more expensive than the $2.28 average of February 2017. On the week, gas prices decreased 1 cent.

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, West Texas Intermediate increased 78 cents to settle at $63.55. Oil prices are likely to continue rebounding this week after the EIA’s latest petroleum report revealed that U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly fell by 1.6 million barrels. The drop gave some market observers hope that global demand growth this year may help drain global inventories further, even with U.S. production continuing to grow.

EIA’s report also found that U.S. domestic crude production and exports remain high, hitting 10.270 million b/d and 2.04 million b/d respectively. A steady increase in crude oil exports underscores that growth in domestic production has led to the U.S. ability to meet growth in global appetite for oil. The growth and price gains for crude since the end of last year have helped to drive additional investment in drilling activity in the U.S., which currently has 799 active oil rigs, according to Baker Hughes, Inc.

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 81 local offices in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia serving 2.7 million members.News releases are available at news.eastcentral.aaa.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.